the devil wears prada 2 - loved it
I really like The Devil Wears Prada . I saw it in the cinema when it came out, and I've rewatched it two or three years ago with my wife, who had missed out on it and the cultural impact it had. It surprised me so much when the second movie was suddenly just... there! So I went today and I am absolutely in love. I can't wait until I can see it a couple more times, maybe right after rewatching the first again, and get to draw more connections and conclusions. The following will contain spoilers. At the start, I felt so proud of Andy. She is thriving, she is accomplished, she is getting honored for her work and she has great friends and coworkers! It feels so good to see that even 20 years later, she hasn't lost her ambition and drive, and did not cave for someone else's feelings anymore. She's standing up for herself and is much more confident, too. As you are introduced into the new situation (going back to Runway two decades later), you get to be nostalgic alongside her, which feels like such a good narrative choice; so satisfying to watch. Yes, I totally fell for the nostalgia bait, the " Look, do you remember that piece of info from the first movie? " stuff. It was fun! I was greatly entertained and half the cinema was gasping and squealing at times, recognizing things and pointing at the screen. I liked seeing that some things stayed the same while some things changed, while nothing felt forced or unrealistic. People and companies progress, and while you may see yourself as the main character that people surely will remember, your presence was likely much smaller than you realize. It felt in-character for people not to necessarily remember Andy or to be aghast that she has made it further, and it felt so human for Andy to go: Wait, that process changed? Wait, we don't do it this way anymore? It was also so, so good to see Miranda again, and what they did with her. I think they handled Miranda absolutely well, especially her first appearance. A big fanfare, thrilling, slaying in a dress. She still has her quirks, the air of superiority, the earned respect, the vibe that makes you stumble as you make it into her office - but she is also a Boomer, rather old by now, and even she has slowed down and now seems slightly out of place, overwhelmed. Things aren't like they were before, and she has issues with growing in the direction the work needs to go. Work culture and expectations have shifted, and they have not been kind to the person Miranda is. She can no longer throw her coat at people to assert her dominance, as there have been too many HR complaints; now she has to do it herself. She makes the occasional outdated, offensive Boomer joke in meetings, and while a much younger employee is allowed to reprimand her repeatedly for that, nothing happens. The young workforce has gotten used to their out-of-touch leadership making these sorts of comments (" That's just who she is ") and in turn, leadership has gotten used to feeling this sort of short-lived mild rejection of their words. No more uncritical appeasement and laughing just to laugh, the air is silent now before just moving on. Miranda used to always get her way and was able to boss people around with a sharp tongue - now her power has diminished, as she is ambushed by about eight (?) people in an environment she is not used to and cannot control. As such, she is unable to defend herself and the company against a ruthless take-over spurred by neoliberal ideals, too overwhelmed to make sense of it, and feeling left behind in a world that moves so fast. She's smart and cunning, but she can't make sense of the economic babble thrown at her, and her edges are smoothed out by the fear of jeopardizing her role and the possible renegotiation of her planned, but ultimately failed, promotion that Irv never got to announce. She has to grapple with what kind of legacy she wants to leave behind, when it is the right time to stop, what else she even has going in her life, and that her attitude has cost her dearly. As a viewer, it means a lot to see how gracefully they handled the fact that even the biggest, most fearsome Girl Boss ™ is aging out of her aura and control, and it is inevitable, but not necessarily sad. We have seen Miranda's issues with vulnerability and accepting help in the first movie, and here again, she is asked to get over herself for the greater good of everyone involved. It can be quite cringe-worthy how other pieces of media handle the modern world - way too many message pop-up sounds, texts always on screen, frequent video calls, extreme smartphone reliance for plot, and more. My wife described it as "when it is like Netflix shows", and that fits so perfectly. They really utilize this to death in their shows, together with extremely temporary memes and slang that already feel slightly too old once the release happens. I'm so glad this movie didn't fall into that trap! Yes, a main point of the movie is that times have changed - Andy no longer uses a flip phone, print numbers are rapidly falling, everything moves online, content is created for digital feeds, and your audience is not leisurely consuming a fashion magazine in a glamorous way, but seeing your short form content while on the toilet. The goal is to go viral, and there's a need for a much more direct and pressing damage control now that the public can directly fill your comments and mail boxes with their criticism. All while the industry is fighting with downsizing and consolidations. Still, modern tech doesn't get a center role in the movie in this obnoxious way, and they focus more on the core issues and workplace expectations that changed, over implementing a temporary reference or trend that will age badly. They do show some memes, but they are deliberately timeless and very focused on the movie, not trying to tie a current TikTok trend into it. What also "modernized" it in my mind is that aside from making the tyrannical girlboss less relevant in the age of work-life balance and HR complaints, they clearly brought in and parodied the Silicon Valley rich tech bro, just in the characters of Irv's son Jay, and of Benji Barnes. They clearly do not follow the rules of old money, as they dress like they're going out for a hike or the gym, act too casual, childish at times even, and seem to decide unpredictably, on a whim, in this really emotionally cold way. Money without class, without pretension, but also seemingly awkward and clumsy. Benji plans to go to the sun and has stopped drinking water because he thinks it's poisonous; there are mentions of weight loss and Ozempic. Really reminded me of Zuckerberg, Altman, Musk et al. in that way. The movie is full of celeb cameos that also aided the above modern feel; thankfully, most are really subtle, quick, and in the background. I think the ones most noticeable are Lady Gaga (loved her song) and Donatella Versace. It felt fair to me; the movie had a huge impact on the fashion world and was a tribute to it, so it makes sense that the second one would also honor their inspirations and also uplift new modeling talent. It felt fun spotting all the easter eggs, so to speak. In the first movie, Andy's boyfriend Nate was a complete dumpster fire. The older I get, the worse it ages. The narrative felt sexist, and I think the writers wanted to acknowledge that in this second movie. The New Guy ™ is a genuinely kind guy, but also kind of carries the vibe of all fictional men who are sanitized to death and would love to break out in a therapyspeak monologue about what is wrong with the other character. Still, I appreciate that over Nate, so we are good. The movie could have gone without the romance altogether. It added nothing to the core plot, and the screentime was minimal. I understand what they were trying to do, though: For once, show Andy in a normal relationship, resolving conflicts maturely, and that she doesn't need to choose between love and career like the first movie made it seem. And I can tolerate that. At least we were spared absolute hetslop . Emily is such a weird character to me. I did not think she would ever become so central, and I still think it is a weird choice, and probably the only thing in the movie I am scratching my head about. I guess retrospectively, I could see how the writers would wanna let Emily get her lick back on Andy for essentially coming in and torpedo-ing all her plans and dreams in the first movie, but it still felt... odd to me. Maybe because the way Emily and Andy compete in the first is such a subplot to me in the first, as I enjoy the rest more? I guess in light of that, making Emily mean and giving her the power to absolutely ruin Andy and Miranda makes sense, but something about it feels incomplete. At the end of the first movie, things seemed pretty resolved. But a late explanation of an unanswered phone call is what we are supposed to believe is what made Emily so cold this time? Not enough for me. I am also missing more reasons to empathize with how quickly Andy is just forgiving Emily for everything, when she hasn't only seemingly been fine with using her boyfriend for money, but also wanted to make tons of people jobless, and center herself in the magazine. Wild. Which leads me to the second point: Interesting imagery. For the entire movie until the end, Emily has red hair. The color red usually symbolizes power, evil, villains, blood, pain, and sin, and red hair is often associated with having a bit of a temper. Meanwhile, after everything comes out and she is ready to make amends and start over as her boyfriend broke up with her, her hair is platinum blonde, almost white, a color associated with innocence and new beginnings. In another part of the movie, Andy and Miranda look at the wall mural The Last Supper . Miranda muses that Jesus is depicted without a halo because it is meant to emphasize his humanity and fallibility, our shared inclination to betray one another. This is obviously foreshadowing to what is going to happen later, but it's interesting that minutes later, she is depicted at a large banquet table in front of the mural, seemingly imitating it in the place of Christ. There is also a gorgeous shot of her in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, alone, sad, literally at a crossroads, surrounded by luxury and old, influential history. Ahhh, I wish I could write more, but the longer it's been, the more I am forgetting. I wish I could let it run on my second screen as I type. Maybe one day I will update this 8) Reply via email Published 06 May, 2026
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